Neocons v. Paulites

07.09.13

The John Wilkes Booth Wing of the Republican Party

Interesting that the Free Bacon, which was created by Matt Continetti to destroy Democrats, is going after Rand Paul. The paper reports that a close Paul aide, and the co-author of the senator's recent book, is a neoconfederate type:

Paul hired Jack Hunter, 39, to help write his book The Tea Party Goes to Washington during his 2010 Senate run. Hunter joined Paul’s office as his social media director in August 2012.

During public appearances, Hunter often wore a mask on which was printed a Confederate flag....

...In one 2004 commentary, Hunter said Lincoln assassin John Wilkes Booth’s heart was “in the right place.”

“Although Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth’s heart was in the right place, the Southern Avenger does regret that Lincoln’s murder automatically turned him into a martyr,” he said in 2004.

He later wrote that he “raise[s] a personal toast every May 10 to celebrate John Wilkes Booth’s birthday.

Damn! I missed Booth's birthday again?

Why would would an ultra-conservative sheet be attacking an ultra-conservative pol? Because they're different kinds of ultra-conservatives. Continetti is married to Bill Kristol's daughter and used to work at the Weekly Standard, so he wants America to go around the world delivering freedom and democracy to people by killing 100,000 or so of them at a clip, and Paul's opposition to that sort of thing is of course adamantine. So the Baconites would want him out of the way in terms of the 2016 primary. Jennifer Rubin, another grapeshot enthusiast, lit into Paul about a month ago, too.

Or maybe Continetti is just deeply offended by racism. Yes, that must be it! But seriously keep an eye on all this. The neocons v. Paulites fight is going to be maybe the main event on the GOP side in 2016, and it promises to be far more intense than the prior battles. Rand's dad was a crotchety old crank who was never going to win the nomination, but Rand of course actually could.